Monday, 22 December 2014

We are OPEN between Christmas and New Year. It is traditionally quite a busy time of year for us in the gallery as many of our customers return to Galloway to visit family and friends. Our coal fire will be lit and as is tradition we will be serving ginger wine and chocolates in the gallery.

We wish all our customers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and we look forward to seeing you over the festive season.

Here are our opening times:

Christmas Eve OPEN 10 am to 4 pm
Christmas Day CLOSED
Boxing Day CLOSED
Saturday 27th December OPEN 10 am to 5 pm
Sunday 28th December CLOSED
Monday 29th December OPEN 10 am to 5 pm
Tuesday 30th December OPEN 10 am to 5 pm
Wednesday 31st December OPEN 10 am to 4 pm
New Year’s Day CLOSED
Friday 2nd January 2015 CLOSED
Saturday 3rd January OPEN 10 am to 5 pm
Sunday 4th January CLOSED
Monday 5th January CLOSED
Tuesday 6th January CLOSED

From Wednesday 7th January Open 10 am to 5 pm, Closed Sundays and Tuesdays

Monday, 21 July 2014

The invitations for our forthcoming Galloway Paintings exhibition were posted out today. So, if you are on our paper mailing list, look out for a lovely card in the post. Our e-invitations will be arriving by email shortly. You can sign up for our email mailing list here.

Most of the paintings have arrived and we are enjoying getting to know them before we start installing the exhibition.

The exhibition opens on Saturday 2nd of August. You can view most of the paintings online on our web site here.

Friday, 23 May 2014

It's something I've always wanted to do, publish our own Greetings Cards, other than our annual Christmas card. When I saw Leo's latest collection of paintings and screenprints I knew they would make stunning cards. We chose five designs. They have just come back from the printers, just in time for Spring Fling. We are all so pleased with them.

They cost £2.50 each and as well as being available from the gallery they are also on our online shop with free postage!

Thursday, 22 May 2014

We've been busy helping Leo get his work installed in the gallery for Spring Fling. He is off to see the Prince concert in Glasgow tonight (lucky thing) so we wanted to get organised before that. All his work is displayed in the front room of the gallery. The colours look fantastic together and it has all come together beautifully.

Saturday, 17 May 2014

On Friday we were invited by Silvy Weatherall to attend the opening of her exhibition 'A Body of Parts' at Jupiter Artland near Edinburgh. Silvy's husband is a game dealer and this, combined with her hatred of waste, lead to her using feathers, beaks, feet, and bones amongst other things in her work. My favourite piece was a silver gilded fox skeleton that had been deconstructed and beautifully presented. Silvy said it was a road kill fox that someone left on her doorstep on the 2nd of January! The exhibition is in the delightful Tin Roof Gallery at Jupiter. The presentation is meticulous, right down to having special 'feathers' wall paper printed using one of Silvy's feather designs.

There were delicious cocktails, ice creams, and food from an Airstream caravan. The party marked six years of being open for Jupiter Artland. It was a warm sunny evening and we wandered through the woodland to enjoy some of the permanent sculpture collection.

Antony Gormley, Firmament

Contemplating Art at Jupiter Artland with Cornelia Parker's Landscape with Gun and Tree

Thursday, 1 May 2014

At the Opening of our People and Places exhibition we were lucky enough to have one of Scotland's best portrait painters, Ewan McClure, join us in the gallery for a portraiture demonstration.

Ewan showed huge skill and great calmness as he painted in front of the crowds of people who came to the opening. He even managed to chat to interested customers who were fascinated by his techniques.

He produced a wonderful painting of my brother Leo. The likeness is incredible but more than that the painting exudes a confident calmness. I love the subtle colour palate that Ewan used. He is a master at mixing colour and does it with such ease, it is mesmerising to watch.

Needless to say, my parents have bought the painting and commissioned one of my other brother Joss!

Thursday, 17 April 2014

Please join us for drinks this Easter Saturday
to launch our new exhibition 'People and Places'. The exhibition
celebrates portraiture in diverse forms from wood carving and collage to
oil paint. The 'Places' vary from France and India to the North of
Scotland.

We are honoured to have one of Scotland's finest portrait painters, Ewan
McClure, join us in the gallery for the Opening. Between 11am and 1pm
Ewan will be painting a portrait of someone who will be a well known
face to many of you - artist and picture framer Leo Blamire.

Wednesday, 16 April 2014

As part of the Galloway Forest Easter Festival last Sunday I went on a guided walk with artist Matt Baker. Matt took us to see his wonderful stone carvings 'Quorum' which are nestled in the Galloway hills near Clatteringshaws. The carved heads have been there for nearly twenty years and feel very much part of the place. I loved the colourful lichens that have formed beautiful patterns on the faces, even giving the head pictured above 'eyebrows'.

We then walked to Colin Rose's 'The Eye' on the edge of Black Loch and through the forest to the Murray Monument. Matt gave us a fascinating insight into the geological history of the landscape. He spent eight weeks in a residency in that part of the country and we heard about the other pieces he created, which have now been lost to the deforestation.

It was a real treat to spend such a long time talking to an artist about his inspirations and processes and we covered a good few other topics too. All in all a great way to spend Sunday afternoon.

Thursday, 3 April 2014

George Donald RSA RSW delivered his work today. It was very exciting to see the paintings. George told us some interesting tales of his travels and when you look at his work you can see what an influence his experience of different cultures has on his rich, atmospheric work.

George commented that Antony might just be his favourite dog!

The largest painting of George's in this exhibition is a dreamy composition, featuring a whippet.

Monday, 3 March 2014

Here are some photos from John Threlfall's pastel demonstration in the gallery. As part of our John Threlfall and Lisa Hooper exhibition we have been lucky enough to have both artists show some of their working practices in the gallery.

John talked about how he worked from his field sketches. It was wonderful to see the sketches that he had drawn directly from life, often on cliff edges and blustery beaches!

He chose to draw two Great Crested Grebes in pastel. Everyone who came felt very inspired by his passion for his subjects and the medium of pastel.

The exhibition has been extremely popular with so many wonderful comments from visitors to the gallery. Lisa and John should feel very proud of such a fantastic exhibition.

The exhibition continues until the 29th March. You can view it on our web site here.

Thursday, 23 January 2014

Clearing everything out of the office area and long room gave us a chance to do some serious cleaning and tidying and it is all looking great now. One more room to go and then we will have eliminated all the carpet!

Sunday, 5 January 2014

Today we didn't get our Sunday off - we've been hard at work emptying two rooms in the gallery and taking up the old carpets ready for the new flooring being laid tomorrow.

The New Year is the perfect time for 'out with the old and in with the new'. We will be closed from Monday 6th (tomorrow) and we will reopen on Saturday 11th January. This is stage three of a four stage renovation project, after this we will only have one room left to do.

We are also preparing for a very important exhibition in February when we present an exciting two person show with Lisa Hooper and John Threlfall.